The present invention relates to a system and method for performing checkless cash advance settlement transactions, particularly in a casino environment.
A number of aspects related to casino gaming and operation are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Casino patrons enjoy playing the plethora of unique video slot, poker, and other electronic games of chance. Other technological advancements, such as card shuffling machines, chip handling devices, etc., enhance the customer's perception of casino security and fairness. Each of these factors contributes to a heightened desire to visit and participate in gaming activities at a particular casino, a result clearly desired by casino operators.
As a result of these activities, casino gaming is a highly popular activity in today's society. Often times, a particular individual's enjoyment of the casino gaming experience is predicated upon having a sufficient supply of money that in turn allows the patron to participate in gaming activities for a desired length of time. In a most basic form, the customer simply brings a sufficient amount of currency (or “cash”) with him/her to the casino that can be exchanged for negotiable chips/casino issued gaming cards and/or used with various gaming machines. Invariably, a customer may forget to bring a desired amount of currency with him/her to the casino, and/or depletes the supply of currency brought to the casino before he/she is ready for their gaming experience to end. Under these circumstances, the customer will desire to access additional monies otherwise available through one or more financial institutions at which the customer maintains an account. For example, the customer can utilize an automatic teller machine (“ATM”) located on the casino's premises.
An additional mechanism by which a casino customer can access an off-site financial account is via a cash advance transaction from a credit-type account owned by the customer. Most casinos are equipped to handle cash advance transactions, whereby the customer presents a financial institution card to a casino employee. As used throughout this specification, the phrases “financial institution card” or “financial card” are in reference to a credit card, debit card, or bank card. To this end, casinos often provide a central “cage” station at which a teller is available for processing a financial card cash advance transaction. Regardless, the customer's financial card is processed by a designed electronic processing unit that is otherwise connected (such as via a phone line) to a financial transaction processing service provider. The service provider automatically reviews the relevant financial card information and desired cash advance amount, and either authorizes or denies the requested transaction. If approved, the casino employee (or other person designated by the casino for performing cash advance transactions, such as third party cash advance cash advance service provider) then prepares a quasi-cash document for the customer to execute and then exchange for cash and/or casino-issued chips or gaming card (e.g., a magnetic swipe card issued by the casino that, via interaction with a central database, maintains a credit account for the customer with the casino). In general terms, and as is known in the art, a quasi-cash document is akin to a check or money order and represents a negotiable instrument once signed by the customer. Thus, the quasi-cash document must include not only the cash advance dollar amount, but also customer identification information including full name, street address, and in some instances state identification number (e.g., driver license number) and telephone number.
While the casino employee (or other designated person/service provider) likely has access to a computerized system that facilitates automatic printing of the quasi-cash document, the customer identification information must be manually entered into the system by the casino employee. Unfortunately, this can be a relatively time-consuming task, especially where the customer has a unique name and/or address. In this regard, it is commonplace for multiple casino customers to virtually simultaneously desire to perform a cash advance transaction. Thus, even if the manual entry of customer identification information requires only a few minutes of the casino employee's time, where several patrons are waiting in line, the cumulative delay can become discouraging. Clearly, casinos have a vested interested in maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction, but also to avoid situations that might otherwise dissuade a customer from obtaining additional funds that in turn are used to participate in casino gaming activities.
Financial institution card cash advance transactions are a common place in casinos. However, existing cash advance systems require manual entry of customer identification information as part of the quasi-cash document generating process. This requirement entails unacceptable delays in completing an individual transaction. Therefore, a need exists for a system and method of performing a quasi-cash transaction for a customer, such as a casino customer, in an expedited fashion.
In addition to the issues outlined above, certain additional drawbacks remain related to cash access. In particular, casino customers are presently unable to perform a monetary advance transaction directly from the gaming area at which the customer is located. Instead, the casino customer is required to walk away from the gaming activity in which he/she is engaged, locate an appropriate transaction machine/station, and perform the desired financial transaction. For example, while convenient, ATMs are typically dispersed at various locations within the casino, away from individual gaming areas. Alternatively, a credit card-type transaction can be performed as outlined above (i.e., through a casino teller, or other designated individual, otherwise residing at a central “cage” station). Even further, while cash advance kiosks have recently become highly popular and provide certain conveniences to customers, the customer is still required to leave the gaming area to perform the desired financial transaction.
Casino customers can be frustrated when having to leave a gaming area to perform a monetary advance transaction. A popular gaming strategy is to continue playing a particular gaming activity after successive losses based upon a belief that the customer is “due” to win in the near future. For example, slot machine players often enjoy remaining at a particular slot machine for an extended length of time, theorizing that the slot machine will produce a large jackpot after a certain number of plays. Similarly, black jack, roulette, craps, etc.; players often desire to stay at a particular gaming table to “ride out” a losing streak, assuming that one or more winning wagers are soon to occur. Being forced to leave the gaming area to obtain additional funds undermines this gaming strategy, and is thus disconcerting to the casino customer. The casino also has a vested interest in not only keeping customers happy, but also encouraging customers to continue playing at a particular gaming area.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method of performing a financial transaction at a gaming area in a manner that satisfies prescribed security regimens.